Tantalum based alloy that is resistant to aqueous corrosion

Abstract

A tantalum or tantalum alloy which contains pure or substantially pure tantalum and at least one metal element selected from the group consisting of Ru, Rh, Pd, Os, Ir, Pt, Mo, W and Re to form a tantalum alloy that is resistant to aqueous corrosion. The invention also relates to the process of preparing the tantalum alloy.

We claim: 
     
       1. A method of producing a tantalum alloy, the method comprising microalloying pure or substantially pure tantalum with Ru,
 wherein (i) the microalloying is performed to produce the tantalum alloy via laser additive manufacturing (LAM), vacuum arc remelting (VAR), electron beam melting (EBM), or plasma arc melting (PAM), and (ii) the Ru is present, in the tantalum alloy, in an amount less than 2,000 ppm. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the Ru is present in an amount of at least 250 ppm in the tantalum alloy. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein (i) substantially pure tantalum is microalloyed with the Ru, and (ii) the substantially pure tantalum comprises Ta—3W. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the microalloying is performed via laser additive manufacturing (LAM). 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the microalloying is performed via vacuum arc remelting (VAR). 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the microalloying is performed via electron beam melting (EBM). 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the microalloying is performed via plasma arc melting (PAM). 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein, after the microalloying, the tantalum alloy consists essentially of pure tantalum and Ru. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , wherein, after the microalloying, the tantalum alloy consists of pure tantalum and Ru. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1 , wherein, after the microalloying, the tantalum alloy consists of substantially pure tantalum and Ru, the substantially pure tantalum containing no more than 11% by weight of non-tantalum components. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the Ru is present in an amount of at least 50 ppm in the tantalum alloy. 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the Ru is present in an amount of at least 500 ppm in the tantalum alloy. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 1 , wherein, after the microalloying, the tantalum alloy consists of substantially pure tantalum and Ru, the substantially pure tantalum comprising Ta—3W. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 1 , wherein, after the microalloying, the tantalum alloy comprises an alloy of tantalum, tungsten, and Ru. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising forming one or more plates, sheets, and/or tubes from the tantalum alloy.